Maybe now that will change. In the end, there are some people that will be affected by this in a bad way, true. But, I think in the long run, it will keep improving the sites that are out there. it is my understanding, if you are the original writer of content, you shouldn't get affected by duplicate content.

As a writer fighting an uphill battle competing with low-paying keyword-stuffing-quality-content-doesn't-matter-SEO "writers", this is a positive change! Maybe people will realize that creating quality content is not easy when you are not a writer. Quality writing AND incorporating SEO is a challenge many freelance writers are not valued enough for (or compensated). if a client owns a website, SEO has to play in, whether they know it or not - unless they have no interest in getting traffic. However, that is rarely the case if they are PAYING for writing - they want visitors. And, yes if you write for traffic, you have to think about search engines, there is no way to avoid it, and become a "web strategist." But, you also have to produce quality writing - even more so now! In the end though - I think it is always going to come back to quality, quality, quality instead of shortcuts. Which is a GOOD thing for freelance writers!! But, Google is always changing what they think about "quality", so you have to stay on top of the latest SEO techniques, even if they are "non-SEO" tactics.